1954: Richard William Bailey

Richard William Bailey (1885-1957)

69th President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers

Bailey was born in London, England in 1885. He served his apprenticeship with the Great Eastern Railway Company’s Locomotive Works at Stratford, London. During this time, he gained a Whitworth Exhibition and a Whitworth Scholarship, as well as being made the first ‘Director’s Scholar’.

He attended the East London Technical College, followed by a college apprenticeship with the British Westinghouse Electric Manufacturing Company, at Manchester, where his time was spent mainly in the drawing and design offices of the turbo-generator, large motor and transformer departments.

In 1908, Bailey became a lecturer in mechanical engineering in the University Courses at the Battersea Polytechnic. In 1912, he was appointed the first Principal of the Crewe Technical Institute, which took over the training previously conducted by the Crewe Mechanics Institute.

He returned to the British Westinghouse Electrical Manufacturing Company, which was at that time developing the Research Department of the Company. He was appointed Head of the Mechanical and Chemical Laboratories, which were soon extended to include Metallurgical Laboratories.

He is best remembered for his work on the behaviour of steels and similar materials under stress at high temperatures. He had been engaged on research in this area throughout his career, from 1924 onwards. He held around 90 British Patents and was the author of at least 35 published papers.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1949.

Bailey died in 1957.

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